Expert: Rene Hasekamp - 8/3/2010

Question
Do I need permission to quote song lyrics in my writing [if any gets published!!!] and how would I get the permission to do so?

Answer
Hello,

I am not a copyright expert, but a patent expert. Nevertheless I am quite certain that the following is correct:

I presume that these lyrics still fall under copyright and are not (very) old.

In that case it is not allowed to copy the lyrics in any publication if you are not the copyright owner. It only is allowed to cite "small parts" of the copyrighted work. (It is a bit vague how small a "small part" is, but it definitely is less than half of the material).

If you want to quote the complete lyrics you need permission of the copyright owner, otherwise you can expect a lawsuit.

Where to find the copyright owner? Best thing I can imagine would be to contact the copyright protection organization in your country. A list of copyright related organizations can be found in the following page:

http://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/links/index.html
Natinal organizations are listed on: http://www.wipo.int/directory/en/urls.jsp

Hope this answers your question.
Regards,
Rene Hasekamp.